Customer Reviews

Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, from Wall Street to Dubai

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

I picked up this book hoping it might be something on the order of "Liars Poker" or "Barbarians at the Gates" or "The Pay Pal Wars," books that imparted huge amounts of information about the businesses that they covered. Boy, was I ever disappointed.

Mezrich's characters are suitable for comic books, the business concepts he imparts are perhaps the level that would be explained to fourth-graders on a field trip, and the plot is close to non-existent. I'd say his writing is boring but it seldom rises to that level.

I trade futures and FOREX, so I know a bit about markets and finance. Most of the narrative-type business books I have read give me at least one or two important pieces of information about the business itself. What Mezrich imparts about the Merc can be put into a one-page pamphlet.

I was most of the way through this piece of dreck when I realized what the point of this book was-- Mezrich is hoping to land a movie script. He tried to write it simple and shallow enough for Hollywood mogels to understand, and he tried to incorporate glitz and money and sex.

Save your money, save your time-- skip this book. Mr. C.S.

I first encountered Ben Mezrich when I read his book "Bringing Down the House" about a team of MIT blackjack card counters. The book was weak, but I put this down to the fact that the author was a fiction writer and this was his first work of journalism. Unfortunately, Mr. Mezrich's feel for journalism has not improved since then. In fact, I think that it's safe to say that journalism or even a good term paper is beyond Mr. Mezrich.

One of the most staggering weaknesses of "Rigged" is that Mr. Mezrich seems to know nothing about modern markets and computer driven trading. What passes for his journalism seems to be nothing more than interviews with a few people, which he then embellishes to the point where I would not believe anything I read in his books. Mezrich does very little research and does not interview the range of people that would add any depth to his books. He is, in effect, writing a "non-fiction" novel.

The best part of Mezrich's books is his description of the New York Merc. floor traders. Mezrich seems to understand on some level that these "Meatheads" are vestiges of a rapidly fading trading era. Apparently Mezrich has never visited any of the equally huge trading floors run by large companies that trade even larger volumns via computer. There he would have seen huge networks of computer systems and staffed by highly intelligent traders. Mezrich does not even seem to have any idea that something like computer model driven trading exists.

Computer driven trading is what drives markets now. The topic of the book is the construction of an oil trading center in Daubi. Along with technology, Mezrich seems to have missed any issues involving the political and economic forces in the Middle East and Asia which might drive the creation of this exchange. The book has all the feel of a work that has been hacked out in a few months.

If Mezrich wrote like the young Hunter S. Thompson all this might be forgivable. Unfortunately Mizrich is only an adequate writer. One virtue of his books is that their very simplicity makes them a quick read.

I am happy to say that I have gotten both of Mezrich's books I've read from the library. Unless your idea of excellent writing is Clive Cussler, I'd save my money.

Hardly. This book was a chore. There was no excitement in this book whatsoever. I had to force myself to finish it. I wanted to double slap the main character more than once for being such a milquetoast. I kept waiting for the intrigue. Well, if that's what your after, don't bother buying this book, because there is none. This book is a terrible failure on Mezrich's part.

Wow . . . what agendas do the negative reviewers have?

To be sure, I did take away a star because it does look like this book was written/edited in too much of a hurry. A bit more TLC with the language would definitely have helped. But come on folks, the piling on is a bit much.

First off, this book in not presented as literal history. The author is very clear, up front, that time periods have been compressed and composite characters created to allow real-life individuals to remain anonymous.

As to the author failing to appreciate the shift to and impact of automated trading, what are those reviewers talking about. That shift, in progress at the time of the events, is one of the prime setups for and drivers of the story line.

Some reviewers were downright cruel in bashing the scene where Russo's mother faints a the thought of her son making a business trip to Dubai. I have no idea whether or not the real-life mother did faint. But toe fictional mother could have considering that her husband was trapped in one of the World Trade Center Towers on 9/11 when the attacks occurred and saw it all from the inside. Considering that, and the very very real emotional reactions in NY afterward -- and the major political flap when it turned out that a Dubai-based company was managing NY ports (I believe the contract was taken away), and the short time that elapsed between 9/11 and the events of this story), the fainting thing, while probably not the greatest literary device ever, is hardly as dreadful as some reviewers suggest.

Bottom line: This is not a perfect book, but many of the negative reviews here are needlessly and often-erroneously cruel. It makes me wonder if there are side agendas we don't know about (displaced floor traders?).

Let's start with the title. "Rigged?" There's nothing whatsoever in the shallow plot of this sorry effort that indicates anything regarding the MERC or it's traders were rigged. Chalk that one up to an unthinking editor. Having read other works by Mezrich I'm sad to say this is vastly inferior to those previous efforts, despite his desperate overwriting in attempts to craft descriptions of the frenzied exchange and the exotic lure of Dubai. Mezrich flails in any number of directions, first portraying Russo as a physically confident Harvard MBA who's been a standout rower and footballer aggressive enough to punch out an adversary but who exhibits NO poise or authority in any phrase of his business career. Through the pages dedicated to a glossy lifestyle, readers are led to believe that we're headed for truly significant events, a true-life climax engineered by Russo that will shake the very foundation of captialism and the relationship between the West and the Middle East, but this windup simply fizzles in a series of real or imagined skullduggeries fizzling limper than an overcooked noodle.

Once again, Mezrich brands his story as "true," but at every turn the reader is overwhelmed by persistent thoughts of "how COULD this be true" and "Who CARES if it's true?" In his intro, Mezrich confides that afer meeting the real Russo, he breathlessly informs us that this is a story he just HAD to explore but I, like so many others who wade through this pointless mess are going to simply ask "Why bother?"

i know this is a small point, but it seems that both the author and the main character [his remarks at the end] state repeatedly that oil is traded in gallons. anyone who knows oil trading 101 knows that oil is traded in BARRELS, not gallons. this made me ponder the "truthiness" of the rest of the story. borrow it from the library [sorry amazon].

I'm a big fan of Ben Mezrich's other non-fiction books. They were all fast-paced, interesting, captivating, quick reads. Rigged, on the other hand, didn't come close. I had to force myself to plow through this book. It didn't get get even a little exciting until around page 150. And even then, it just didn't cut it. The foreshadowing was so blatant I knew what was going to happen 20+ pages ahead of time. Lastly, there was a ton of unnecessary filler text. Did Mr. Mezrich have a contract to fulfill? I liken this book to when a band has to release a Live or Greatest Hits album to get out of a record contract. I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1, because 1 star is reserved for books that I can't bear to finish. I finished reading Rigged only because of my enjoyment of Mezrich's other books...I thought maybe it would turn around at some point. It didn't. I'm being redundant. The end.

Ben Mezrich has certainly caught a consistent style of recounting elements of the often high flying lifestyle and excitement of Ivy kids in the "big bad world" and this book is no exception. It is an enjoyable read but somewhat unsatisfying at the last page.
While "Ugly Americans" was an interesting look at the life of an expat in Japan (having spent time there as an expat myself I could see beyond the words on the page) this book reads more like a paid advertisement for the main character (real life John D'Agostino who is truly an interesting and accomplished individual). There are few if any insights into Middle Eastern culture beyond that they seem to have a tolerance for the salacious antics of foreigners. There are also remarkably few insights into energy trading which is sad since hot girls, goons and fast cars don't stimulate the intellect. Also sadly the "naughty" elements are glossed over at best. The book could have opened up the mystery of Dubai, the intricacies of oil trading or at least titillated but in the end all fall short.
For those who like to follow the careers of Mezrich's characters D'Agostino will likely provide interesting future fodder. He was a partner at the hedge fund MotherRock and is likely to continue leading a high flying life - perhaps Mezrich will chronicle his future exploits with more flair.

Was a fast read but at the end did not really seem to have gone anywhere. Kept thinking there was going to be some sort of cliffhanger that never comes. OK read when nothing else is available.

No much to draw from Mezrich's latest...it's like a sitcom.

Just a couple things on "Rigged:"

It kept building up, inducing the reader to believe serious action was just ahead. Unfortunately for me and every other reader, that action never happened. Yes, the DME opened - largely due to the efforts of Khaled & Russo. Yes, the formation of the DME has the potential to be a paradigm shift for the region. I hope the next decade reveals prescience in the thoughts of Russo & Khaled, as opposed to ineluctable naivete fostered by detachment from the business world (see tales of wealth creation and career advancement experienced by 99.999% of those in the business world).

Due to the book's meager length/density it may be worth a look. Mezrich, a Harvard grad in his own right (one of the laudes I believe), has a knack for writing. That ability contrasts with his lack of preparation for Rigged. Mezrich continually shies away from the technical aspects, focusing mostly on the politics. This is one area where the book disappoints. Apparently, delving into actual commodity trades or macro trends wasn't worth the attendant preparation.

Additionally - I felt he should've used the first person with Russo. It was awkward and unnecessary to toe the technical line of using the third person throughout the book. While it added continuity, it took away from the connection between the reader & Russo. He has the talent to convey a dream, a thought process - why not present it in its purest form?

For pure entertainment read "The Wolf of Wall Street."